Page 48 of Fated Exile

Roarke slides past me and pushes me gently towards the flame, his hand on the small of my back. I crane my neck over to look at him, and he just raises a brow, a teasing little grin on his face. Scowling, I look back at the flame, and swallow.

This is it. An irreversible decision. The only one that will save my pack, my people, everyone I care about, and if I'm honest, myself.

Because while I may have tried my best to have a whole life while I was an exile, the truth is that I never quite fit in or feltrighton the outside. There was always something off, something missing. It wasn't just the wolf inside me or the magic under my skin that I needed. As I stand in the center of my pack's place of power, a chant on their lips and heady werewolf joy in the air, I acknowledge that I neededthem.

My people. My community. A family that's so much more than blood. The young and the old, those new to the pack, and those who count their family tree back generations. We've bled into this soil to keep it our own, fought hard to preserve our traditions and our culture. I may have still been Delilah Glass outthere,but in here, I'm so much more.

Somehow that makes it easy to thrust my right hand into the flame and say the words. My throat catches as they leave my lips, and I feel pressure gather behind my eyes.

"I pledge myself to the pack. The blood of my people is my blood. Their troubles are mine to carry, their hungry bellies mine to fill. If they wither and die on the vine, so shall I."

I take a deep breath at this next sentence, going slowly so I don't stumble over it. "Until the day I am dead or the day they revile me, I will watch over them, lead them, and keep them safe. This I pledge to the elders who watch! This I swear to the moon above!Lunis!"

Once again, the fire dies.

This time, when it sparks again, there are five different colored flames shooting up out of the bowl. I gasp along with the crowd, and stumble back a little before I remember what I'm here for. Shoving forward and pushing my hand back in, I blink at each of them.

Blue. Silver. Golden. White. And black.

The flames each glow with their own color, the last one a strange and eerie glow that reminds me of magic itself.

The magic streams sink into my runic tattoo and make it glow with dizzying colors. I have to turn my head and shield my eyes from the brightness pouring from my skin. A moment later the colors are gone, and the torch surges with its strong blue light, filling the bowl and spilling over happily.

Blinking the afterimage away, I step to the edge of the platform and look out into the pack. There's a hushed, almost reverent silence from them. Anticipation crackles in the air, and I feel their emotions bubbling under the surface. Everyone is a little on edge, a little uncertain, and more than a little full of punch.

After a long moment, the chant rises again.”Lun-is! Lun-is! Lun-is!"

As the chanting grows louder and more rhythmic, I feel the strange and ancient word wrap its way around me. An odd pressure gathers in my breastbone, and the moonlight overhead tingles across my skin. Breathing in, I can smell all the scents of the forest around us: loamy earth, damp moss, fresh new leaves, and ancient things alike. My pulse seems to thrum against my wrist and throat, new and alive.

Diving my awareness deep into the earth beneath me, I inhale sharply at all thelifeI can now feel. There's the strength of the ancient stone beneath me, and the wild ley lines of magic in the pack territory.

A stream to the west surges with power.

To the east, two ancient downed trees cross in an X that holds secrets at its heart.

To our north, the mountains rise, cold and powerful.

And to the south, the footsteps of Juniper's werewolves cross over and over again on the same ancient earth, leaving impressions behind.

Each place pools with magic for different reasons, carrying the power of the dead and the living alike. If I reach out, I could pluck power from them and fold it into my newly discovered magical abilities, relying not just on my strength but the endless, bountiful strength of the land alone.

I can sense them all effortlessly, as well as feel the borders of the land like it's a limb attached to my body. The trees stand sentry and the rivers roar, prepared to reach out and attack violently if an intruder makes its way near. They're alive and growing, pushing the blood rot that has plagued the pack aside, hungry for the connection of our mating bonds and pack strength. Now that I'm alpha, I'm part of the land in a way I didn't even realize was possible.

It's hard to imagine why someone like Delphine would want the power of violence and death when she could've chosenthisinstead. But if what Vivia said was true, something was missing, whether inside her or among her mate bonds. Something that won't be missing for me once the night is over.

Roarke takes my hand and tugs me next to him, thrusting our arms into the air. Grinning, I stare down at the pack and let jubilation pour into me. At our feet, the ancient stones of the Mating Circle heal and come together again, cracks vanishing by the second. Above our heads, an endless, star-filled sky stretches. And all around us, our pack comes together, wounded and a little bit wary, frightened for the future but ready to fight. For the first time in a long time, I can believe that everything will be okay.

Then Roarke leads me down the platform, the pack flame burning at our backs. He clears his throat, and a circle widens in the middle of the stones, leaving a space. The chants and chatter fall to a silence as everybody between the pillars turns to face us expectantly. I feel hot, nervous excitement flutter in my chest and settle like a lump in my throat as I anticipate what's about to happen.

Glancing over at me, Roarke takes a long, deep breath. He shoots a little smile at me, crooked in one corner, his eyes creasing. Their summer blue is a stunning color in the bright moonlight, his pupils reflecting twin images of the bright blue pack flame. I squeeze his hand and reluctantly let it go, knowing that this next part is going to be about me more than anything.

"Now we're going to break the curse." Roarke's voice is pitched to a conversational tone, no shouting required as his words are carried over the pack by the new connection we share with the land and our people. "That means, of course, that it's time to, uh, to start the Mating Ceremony. To say the sacred words."

There's an awkward expression on his face, and the tips of his ears are pink. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was a virgin walking to his wedding bed. I bite my lower lip as he fumbles in his back pocket and pulls a small laminated card out of his wallet, holding it up to the flame light so he can read the words printed on its surface.

"Earth and sky, land and prey, all must come together today. We witness here a bond that forms between two souls that become more. As your alpha, bold and true, I call you here to join as two."

All around us, the dead torches placed between the pillars and statues light up with bright orange flame. Their glow casts warmth across the ancient stones. There's a dim roar at my back, and I glance behind me to see that the pack flame is burning low and strong, its blue heat changed to a warm yellow-red glow.

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